Re-Entry Blog Moves

The Re-Entry Blog has moved to www.tpci.us. Look forward to seeing you there.

Re-Entry Blog Moves

R&B Artist Akon creates Record Label and Education/Resources for Ex-Offenders

Again thanks to Rolling Stone for running this story in its August 19th Issue. Senegalese immigrant and up-and-coming R&B singer/songwriter Akon, and his manager Melvin Brown is launching Konvict Muzik, a record label and education/resource program for ex-offenders. Akon was jailed in 1999 for running a car-theft ring. In 2002 he was aquitted and released. He says to Rolling Stone, "When I got out I couldn't get a legitimate job with the charges on my record. " His debut album, Trouble is gaining national airplay. Some songs deal with his experiences in and being released from prison. "I've got a habit of writing about everything I go through," he explains, "and this album gives a glimpse of where I am now."

Occassional Friday Posts to Focus on Re-Entry Arts Entertainment and Culture

Here at the Re-Entry blog we are going to experiment with lighter posts that are related to TPCI and Re-Entry on Fridays. Musicians and other artists have been defining "prison culture" for some time. Now that Parole, and Re-Entry have become major forces on US culture, we are seeing the issues faced by many ex-offenders inspiring some popular and innovative entertainers, visual artists, and writers. Artistic and cultural entertainment has the power to help us understand ourselves, our community, and our challenges with reknewed energy and in different perspectives. While we expect these lighter posts will be interesting, we hope our readers will take them seriously as an opportunity to widen perspectives and viewpoints.

Wisconsin Unveils New Community Oriented Policing Re-entry Effort

According to the Journal Times, The Community Re-Entry Program is community-based cooperative effort involving police, corrections, community groups and neighborhood residents that's designed to welcome past offenders and give them the tools and connections necessary to succeed after life in prison. State and local officials have not yet provided detail about the program, but instead are focusing thier efforts on outreach and community involvement. The Re-Entry Blog wll keep readers posted as additional program information becomes available.

Texas' Re-Integration of Offenders Program

Project RIO is administered by the Texas Workforce Commission in collaboration with Local Workforce Development Boards, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), the Windham School District and The Texas Youth Commission (TYC). The program is designed to reduce recidivism through employment. Numerous studies have shown reduced recidivism rates for employed ex-offenders. According to an evaluation conducted by Texas A&M University Project RIO, "helps keep parolees from becoming repeat offenders and saves the state more than $10 million annually in potential reincarceration costs." The Project RIO website at the Texas Workforce Commission provides a decent overview of the process that includes individualized treatment plans and re-entry assessments. The program also provides tax credits to Texas business that employee RIO 'graduates.'

Social Venture Firm Funds Re-Entry Program in Oakland, California

Social Venture firm, Echoing Green, a New York-based organization established to fund "social entrepreneurship," has provided seed funding for Oakland, California based ReEntry Solutions. Reentry Solutions promotes the reintegration of former prisoners through community education, leadership development and policy reform. it will build organizational networks and initiate statewide reentry justice organizing campaigns in California, Texas and New York – states that account for more than one-third of all former prisoners. Echoing Green's website has an interesting interview with Marc Toney, ReEntry Solutions founder. Not only does the interview discuss his reasoning behind starting the program - and goals moving forward, but who is mentors are, what's on his iPod and on his reading list. On starting a social change venture he says, "Starting any organization requires mastering the art of making the impossible routine. Organizational leadership requires the ability to communicate a compelling vision in which people can see themselves as partners, as well as the skills and dedication to do the wide array of practical day-to-day tasks that are necessary to any start up." Read the Full Interview

Texas Corrections Collaborates with University Medicine

The Journal of the American Medical Association profiles an innovative collaboration between two prominent Texas Medical Schools as they provide healthcare services to the state's significant corrections population. "Despite the apparent improvements in the Texas correctional health care system since its reincarnation in 1994, a decade later, US academic medicine remains largely uninvolved with correctional health care elsewhere in the country. The reasons for this are uncertain and little studied but universities may overestimate security concerns, become stymied with logistical barriers, misunderstand federal restrictions on research involving prisoners, and undervalue the strategic importance of correctional medicine to public health," states article author Newton E. Kendig, MD. The article goes on to discuss the importance of correctional healthcare in overall public health as inmates transition back into society. Read full article at JAMA, and the editorial in PDF.

More Paroled and Lower Crime in Alabama. Is it Housing?

U.S. Justice Department statistics this week show that the number of people on parole in Alabama jumped 31 percent in 2003, the second-highest increase in the country. At the same time Birmingham has enjoyed a significant dip in crime - and only 6% of parolees returning to prison. Some Alabama experts attribute the success to housing. Read the full Article at the Birmingham News

Rolling Stone Names Prison Mural Painter Sandow Birk as Hot Artist 2004

Rolling Stone and the Re-Entry Blog? As prison and re-entry continues to attract headlines in mainstream press, California artist Sandow Birk, who set out several years ago to paint murals in every prison in California appears as "Hot Artist" in Rolling Stones annual hot list. The southern California artist is well known for his work daily life in L.A.'s barrios, inner city violence, graffiti, various political issues, surfing, and skateboarding. His work in prisons however is more akin to the style of nineteenth-century landscapes. In Rolling Stone he states,"At the time, I thought there would be eight [prisons] or something." He has currently painted thirty one murals including the one above for the San Quentin State Prison.

High Tech Parolee Tracking Devices

With recent headlines reaching mainstream news outlets about America's record prison and parole population, the Re-Entry Blog has been tracking Re-Entry stories from some unusual places over the past several days. Engaget.com, a web-log about the latest and greatest gadgets has a post this morning about SCRAM, (secure, continuous, remote, alcohol, monitor). Developed by Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc SCRAM is an ankle bracelet that measures the wearer’s sweat to determine if he or she is drinking any alcohol. Engaget.com also profiles Robocuff, a voice authentication system that verifies the voice on the other end of the probation officers line as the actual the parolee.

News from Around the Country

- Based on the success of L.I.F.E. Tech Transition Center for women in Alabama, the state's Pardons and Parole Commission plans to News">transform several former mental health facilities to replicate the program for men. - Akron, Ohio area clergy members, social service workers, law enforcement officers, representatives of nonprofit agencies and others have formed a community coalition to find ways to help this growing population of ex-convicts.

Virginia's Times Dispatch Profiles Re-Entry from Prison

In 2002, more than 10,500 of Virginia's 33,000 prisoners were released. Across the United States, 632,000 out of 1.4 million were freed, or 45 percent. That same year, there were 11,500 prison admissions in Virginia and 663,521 across the nation. One-third of the new admissions were criminals who had been released from prison within the previous three years. TimesDispatch.com | Freedom and failure

"Ex-Prisoners are Family Too" Social Marketing Campaign Launched in San Francisco Bay Area

A new social marketing ad campaign, "Ex-prisoners are family too," was launched late last month in San Francisco and Alameda Counties. The effort, sponsored by Centerforce, is designed to help parolees, their families, and the greater society improve the reentry of people coming out of prison. The ads feature family members, a son, a brother and a wife, talking about the need to help parolees succeed in our communities. In one ad, a son says: "My dad just got out of prison. He will need my help and yours too. With a job, a place to live and healthcare, he will make it." According to Barry Zack, Centerforce Executive Director, "We know what works….and we do just the opposite. If we want to be serious about breaking the cycle, we have to help parolees and their families - we have to provide them jobs, housing and healthcare." The campaign was created by San Francisco based social marketing agency Better World Advertising with the participation of prisoners, parolees and family members. According to Les Pappas, President of Better World Advertising, "It was clear to us through the focus groups, that when people come out of prison they really do want to start over. The problem is that they can’t do it alone. The family members we talked with can help, but the larger community also has to provide some support." One of the largest campaigns of its kind ever, ads will appear throughout San Francisco and the East Bay. The ads start running this week in BART and MUNI, in bus shelters and in local newspapers. Posters and postcards will also be distributed. The campaign will continue through the summer. Click here to view and download larger PDF files of the ads above.

Thanks to Centerforce

San Francisco's Centerforce has sent the Re-Entry Blog a significant amout of material that will interest all TPCI participants and other readers. Over the next several days we will post the information. We would like to thank Centerforce for their willingness to share this information with us. Shortly, Centerforce is also planning to share with us some evaluatory material on their programs. As many of you are aware, the TPCI model stresses the use of evidence based practices. We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide this information to our readers.

State prisoners sue for better mental health care

The New York City Brad H settlement could prove as case precedence for this suit in New Hampshire. World Justice Information Network - The International Criminal Justice Library - News

Books Behind Bars Program

Via the Star-Ledger - The Book Behind Bars program, run by the Center for Mental Health Services and Criminal Justice Research at Rutgers Univiersity is to supply books to prisons that "help guide recovery and rehabilitation." The two year old program funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and private donations conducted several studies of New Jersey inmates and found that many are not getting the the help they need to prepare for life after prison, and prison libraries are "of little help." "Prison libraries have plenty of fiction and legal books, but there is almost nothing that addresses self-help recovery and rehabilitation," says Nancy Wolff director of the Center for Mental Health Services and Criminal Justice Research at Rutgers Universit. Books are selected by a committee of prison administrators, people with criminal histories, community representatives and academics, Wolff said. The center has negotiated volume discounts with publishers, and all donated money will be used to buy books. The first book selected to be part of the program is Life on the Outside : The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett

Volunteers of America to Give Correctional Services Award to Rev. Pierre Allard in Chicago, August 2

Via Press Release: Volunteers of America will honor the Reverend Doctor Pierre Michel Allard for his work in the corrections field at its annual awards breakfast during the American Correctional Association conference in Chicago. Allard will receive the 2004 Volunteers of America Maud Booth Correctional Services Award for his more than 30 years of work in the corrections field. Allard is being honored for his leadership in the restorative justice movement, which brings together communities, offenders, and victims of crime to discuss the effects of criminal acts on the community. Continue reading ...

National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice Hosts Training Conference

Eight hundred members of NABCJ attended the training conference in ">Jacksonville, Florida this week have attended workshops on child support and incarceration, community service, violence in the workplace, domestic violence and “Interrupting the Violence.” Panels discussed topics ranging from “Survival Skills for Ethnically Diverse Administrators” to “Street Gangs, Violence, Drugs, Crime and Death — The Writing is on the Wall.” All conference participants also received a videotape, "Outside the Walls: A National Snapshot of Community-based Prisoner-Reentry Programs," produced by the Urban Institute for the Re-Entry Media Outreach Campaign. "First, we're looking at ways to prevent people from entering the corrections system. And then, acknowledging the fact that you're there, how do we get you out and get you to stay out? Education and jobs are the components. And it's a front end and back end type of approach," says Matthew Hamidullah, a conference attendee and Federal Bureau of Prison warden.

Incarcerated Women Learn Parenting Skills

“I used to think it’s OK to spank your kids, but I’m learning other ways to deal with things,” says an attendee of New Mexico Stat University's Cooperative Extension program, Strengthening Families Initiative. This program teaches parents healthy ways to raise children while encouraging them to take better care of themselves and their kids. “Incarcerated parents generally need these classes more than most, because there’s such a vicious cycle of abuse in their families and prison becomes a revolving door that’s passed down from generation to generation,” said Charolette Collins, program coordinator for northern New Mexico. This program is designed to not only ease parents transition back into family life, but break the generational cycle of incarceration.

STARS Mentoring Project - Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents

Pima County, Arizona is experimenting with a new program to mentor children with incarcerated parents. "As we moved toward a tough-on-crime stance with mandatory sentencing and three-strikes-you're-out, we didn't see the long-term consequences, the expense and the problems this would create for families,'' said Maggie Allen, who oversees the STARS Mentoring Project. The STARS Mentoring project binds together a variety of community agencies that collaborate to recruit mentors for children with incarcerated parents. Tucson area Big Brothers and Big Sisters, well known for a more generic form of this program act as screeners for the mentors. They work in conjunction with support and recruiting services. The project is funded by the Governors Office, Parents Commission and the Arizona Department of Health and Human Services, Children, Youth, and Families Division.

News from Around the Country

- The [Springfield, MA] Republican describes Hampden County's After Incarceration Support Systems Program by imbedding an undercover reporter in one of the support session/classes as an inmate./ - The Open Society Initiative funds Portland, Oregon and North Charleston, South Carolina to develop the Civic Justice Corps, a plan to marshal the time, talent and energy of people involved in the criminal justice system in a term of civic service. The Civic Justice Corps will enlist people while still in prison to perform service to benefit their home communities. Upon leaving prison, the corps members will complete nine to 12 months of civic service projects while learning a trade and earning a new reputation.

Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Proclaims July 18-24 as Probation and Parole Officers and Agents Week in Pennsylvania

"Probation and parole officers and agents uphold the law with dignity while recognizing the right of the public to be safeguarded from criminal activity," Governor Rendell said. Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed a proclamation designating the week of July 18-24, 2004 as Probation and Parole Officers & Agents Week in Pennsylvania in honor of the criminal justice professionals.

Sacred Outdoor Spaces in Correction and Transition Facilities

The Washington Posts reports on the TKF Foundation, a family-based group that is dedicated to "sacred outdoor spaces" that encourage reflection, provide solace and "engender peace." They are funding several such spaces in Maryland prison and transition centers. While healing gardens at hospitals have become very popular in recent years TKF's $500,000 distributions each year are moving towards facilities where they feel the need is extreme - correction and transition facilities.

2005 SOROS Justice Fellowships - Call for Applications

APPLICATION DEADLINE:WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004 The Soros Justice Fellowships embody the commitment of the Open Society Institute’s U.S. Justice Fund to national criminal justice reform. The U.S. Justice Fund’s mission is to reduce excessive incarceration and its consequences, promote fair and equal treatment in all phases of the United States criminal justice system, redirect public focus and resources away from punishment towards long-term investment in individuals and communities, and encourage the successful reentry and reintegration of former prisoners through policies that foster public safety, respect human and civil rights, and promote responsible citizenship. The U.S. Justice Fund works towards this goal by supporting advocacy, organizing, litigation, research, writing, and media projects that further its mission and policy priorities. Through three fellowships—Soros Justice Advocacy, Senior, and Media—the Justice Fund supports individuals from varied disciplines to design and implement projects that advance the goals of the U.S. Justice Fund’s criminal justice priority areas. The fellowship programs also seek proposals that emphasize the intersection of its criminal justice priority areas and immigration issues; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities; and women and children. For more information visit the Soros Foundation.

No More Tears Program Recieves more Press

More press about the Bay Area's inmate developed "No More Tears," program. While develped by inmates, San Francisco based Center Force now runs the program. Centers Force describes No More Tears as "an ongoing forum of inmates and concerned community leaders, which addresses the issues of violence and crime in our communities. The forum focuses on understanding obstacles and developing solutions."

Men Released from Prison can Reduce their Sexual Risk for HIV with Individual Intervention

International AIDS Conference, Thailand - via Newswire David Seal, Ph.D., associate professor at the Center for AIDS Intervention Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin presented findings at the 15th Anual International AIDS Conference in Thailand on Monday from a behavior risk study of recently released offenders in California, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. “Approximately 1.3 million men are in prison in the United States. These men are at significantly higher risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. This study shows that public health efforts can lead to significant changes in behavior that protect not only the health of these men, but also the health of their sexual partners,” says Seal. In the study, 561 men were assigned to receive one of two HIV, STD, and hepatitis risk reduction interventions (160 of these men were from Wisconsin). Of these, 522 men were released from prison and participated in the evaluation study. Men were assigned to one of two interventions based on their month of release. Men in the standard intervention received a single pre-release HIV, STD, and hepatitis risk reduction session prior to their release from prison. Men in the enhanced intervention received the standard risk reduction session plus one additional prerelease session focused on planning for broader reentry issues (e.g., housing, employment, relationships). Men in this enhanced intervention also were scheduled to receive four post release intervention sessions at one, three, six and 12-week periods. Risk behavior was assessed in both groups at one, 12 and 24 weeks post releases using a computerized survey which allowed participants to privately report risk behavior. Men in the enhanced intervention reported less unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse six months following their release from prison. Men in the enhanced intervention were also less likely to report unprotected sex during their last sexual encounter compared to men who received the standard intervention. “These findings demonstrate the public health benefit of a comprehensive program to reduce sexual risk behavior among incarcerated men as they transition back into the community,” said Dr. Seal. Added James Sosman, M.D., co-investigator and assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School HIV Care Program.

American Bar Association Calls for End to Mandatory Minimum Sentences

... and other news from around the world - In a recently issued report the ABA has called for the abolishing of mandatory minium sentences plus other 'tough on crime' policies. The report urges changes towards more effective alternatives. - New faith-based homes for non-violent offenders transitioning back to the community continue to pop-up around the country, including programs in rural Minnesota, and southern California. - While faith-based programs opening thier doors in other states, doubts in Connecticut over the future of Faith-based transition programs given Gov. John G. Rowland resignation. - Oakland's "No More Tears Program," has prison inmates meet with thier victims. The program overall is designed to help ex-offenders ease back into society. - Transitioning women from prison in Yemen. In a conservative socieity, accused of crimes like pre-marital sex, the most difficult transition for these women may simply be facing thier families. - HIV rates in Russian prison system could cause serious societal and economic problems once prisoners are released - from the New England Journal of Medicine. .

Comments from Mary T. Whitney, Executive Director of Women Planting Seeds and Corporation for Supportive Housing

We do not normally highlight comments to individual posts verbatim, but Ms Whitney's commments earlier this week deserve to be a post in itself. Her work in housing is consistent with the collaboration models that the TPCI model suggests. --------- I have made a commitment and I do go into the prisons doing motivational presentations to the inmates. As a mentor for the last 3 1/2 years for AMICUS I do one on one mentoring for women at Shakopee. A domestic violence volunteer advocate for the last seven years. We all need to do our part because those incarcerated will be coming back into the community. It is our duty to see that they have a place to live and a point of reference. I have worked full time for the last 5 1/2 years for the Corporation for Supportive Housing. On a monthly basis I bring together professional job developers, case managers, employment specialists and supportive housing developers who have need of employment and housing resources for their hard to place candidates. We know that once housed people no longer go in and out of that revolving door. But it is my belief that we must unearth their hidden potential. How would you react if you had no place to call home, or no one to call mom. Those ones we call felons did have someone who loved them at some point in their lives. It is my belief that no one desires to live on the system or be wrapped up in the system. But how will they hear without a preacher and how will they learn without a teacher. Our people suffer because of a lack of knowledge. Before coming to the Corporation for Supportive I had not worked for 14 years by choice. I was one of those lucky ones who had a roof over my head and a husband who paid the bills. But where would I have gone had I not went to Summit Academy OIC and learned a trade. Where would I have gone had I not been chosen to give a presentation as a role model student for Summit's Board of Directors. That is where I met Steve Thomas Chief Operating Officer for the Corporation for Supportive Housing who believed I meant what I said in my speech. Asked for my resume, he and George Blackwell from U. S. West now Qwest. I chose the Corporation for Supportive Housing because I wanted to help make a difference. What are you going to do? I desire to be real because education is freedom and freedom is life. Mary T. Whitney Executive Director Women Planting Seeds P.O. Box 6834 Minneapolis, MN 55406 sunny@pressenter.com Mary T. Whitney Associate Program - full time Corporation for Supportive Housing 2801 21st Avenue South, Suite 220 Minneapolis, MN 55407 mary.whitney@csh.org 612-721-3700 x107

Second Chance Act Would Ease Inmates Return

Representative Rob Portman (D-Ohio) introduced the Second Chance Act which would authorize $112 million over two years to help ex-prisoners get drug treatment, student loans, mentoring and housing. The bill has the backing of conservative Republicans, liberal democrats and the whitehouse - and therefore has a good chance of passing. The Cincinanati Enquirer summarizes the bill as follows: • Establishes a National Offender Reentry Resource Center, which would provide help and training for governments, religious organizations, and social service agencies that help ex-prisoners. • Creates a federal task force to report to Congress on what works and what doesn't, and barriers the federal government imposes on ex-prisoners' return to society. • Removes the age limit of 60 for grandparents to receive support and services while caring for grandchildren when a parent is in prison. • Allows some ex-prisoners to get student loans that they are now barred from receiving. • Gives grants for mentoring, mental health and drug treatment, and housing aid. Bill would help ex-inmates' return

Second Chance Act Would Ease Inmates Return

Representative Rob Portman (D-Ohio) introduced the Second Chance Act which would authorize $112 million over two years to help ex-prisoners get drug treatment, student loans, mentoring and housing. The bill has the backing of conservative Republicans, liberal democrats and the whitehouse - and therefore has a good chance of passing. The Cincinanati Enquirer summarizes the bill as follows: • Establishes a National Offender Reentry Resource Center, which would provide help and training for governments, religious organizations, and social service agencies that help ex-prisoners. • Creates a federal task force to report to Congress on what works and what doesn't, and barriers the federal government imposes on ex-prisoners' return to society. • Removes the age limit of 60 for grandparents to receive support and services while caring for grandchildren when a parent is in prison. • Allows some ex-prisoners to get student loans that they are now barred from receiving. • Gives grants for mentoring, mental health and drug treatment, and housing aid. Bill would help ex-inmates' return

From Hard Time to Full Time

Check out this report by New York's Legal Action Center on strategies to help move ex-offenders from incarceration to employment.

Weekend Re-Entry News

- The Indianapolis Star profiles a program run by Volunteers of America that allows 40 nonviolent female offenders to complete their sentence in a co-ed work release residential facility. - The Idaho HONOR Program set up for longer term prisoners. - Big changes coming to Louisiana Motivational Schools. - Lawmakers approve Las Vegas inmate prerelease center

Restoring Voting Rights

Check out this short report by University of Missouirt Sociology Department on 5 states (Connecticut, Maryland, Texas, Delaware and New Mexico) that have changed their disenfranchisement laws in the past few years. Read the Report

The New Scottish National Offender Management Service Merges Prisons with Probation

Home Office minister Paul Goggins welcomed the merger, saying: “The NOMS provides a once in a generation opportunity to revolutionise the way we treat offenders and challenge offending behaviour.” The creation of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is part of a Government strategy to cut prisoner numbers and reduce re-offending. Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Prisons-Probation Service Begins

Alabama's success with Women's transition center prompts plans for 3 men's centers

With the new women's transition center in Wetumpka, Alabama showing promise, the Department of Pardons and Paroles plans to add centers for male parolees in three locations across the state, the department director said. Full Story at heraldtribune.com

Oakland California experiments with new faith based re-entry initiatives

Nearly 80% of the 3,000 parolees in Oakland, California end up back in prison. Therefore, according to the East Bay Express, it comes as no surprise that Oakland boasts the highest violent crime rate amount the nine largest cities in California. To combat the probem, Oakland is ioneering some of the most innovative and successful approaches to parolee reentry in the state. "Parolees not only get help they wouldn't find in most other California cities, they also receive stepped-up supervision and scrutiny by parole agents and police officers. It's a carrot-and-stick model with a little religion tossed into the mix. Under a Bush administration initiative, several East Bay churches receive funds for faith-based parolee programs that reach out, train, and support released convicts. The idea is that churches can help sustain parolee progress without government funding once the intensive social-service funding ends." East Bay Express | eastbayexpress.com | News | Feature | Home for Good?,How Oakland is pioneering ways to keep ...

Ashland University in Ohio Provides coursework to incarcerated students

If there were ever a day when professionals devoted to ex-offender reentry programs doubted their life's calling, ex-offenders like Dave Koch reminded these professionals of their importance. "There's gotta be days when you feel like you're not making any progress," Koch told the crowd gathered at Ashland University Friday for the school's Outreach Program Department's 2004 Re-Entry Symposium Seminar. AU highlights successes of re-entry programs - mansfieldnewsjournal.com

Life after incarceration

The South Bend Tribune profiles the "Life after Incarceration Program" run out from the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Program. Nearly every county in Indiana runs a program with this curriculum, developed by Aadron Kausch in 1997, through Purdue. SouthBendTribune.com: Life after incarceration

Audio Interview with Dale Parent

Please Note: To listen to Audioblogs we require the installation of Flash. A large portion of internet enabled computers have flash already installed. If you do not, you will be prompted to install the small download and restart your system. In the future no action will be necissary. I am here with Dale Parent Senior Associate in the Crime and Drug Policy Center at Abt Associates, and Project Director for the Transition from Prison to Community Initiative. In addition to his work with TPCI, he is also a recognized for his sentencing policy, corrections evaluation and research, and juvenile corrections performance measurement. Dale discusses what brought him to TPCI, his thoughts for the future, and what TPCI expects of states.

Introducing Audioblogs

Please Note: To listen to Audioblogs we require the installation of Flash. A large portion of internet enabled computers have flash already installed. If you do not, you will be prompted to install the small download and restart your system. In the future no action will be necissary. The Re-Entry Blog and TPCI Review are pleased to introduce a new service to our loyal readers. We know that everyone would like to keep up to date with ex-offender re-entry concepts, news, and best practices. But reading articles – even short articles can sometimes be difficult – who has the time with multiple deadlines and competing priorities. Therefore, starting today, for selected content, we will offer audioblogs. Audioblogs are verbal posts that we make either via a microphone hooked up to our computer or via land or cell phone. Any Internet accessible computer equipped with the flash media player – which includes almost all computers today – can listen to our audio posts, even over relatively slow modem connections. Not only will this allow you to listen to important articles on the Re-Entry Blog while they accomplish other tasks, but it will also allow us to conduct and broadcast interviews with leading policy makers in the re-entry field, and provide you with up to the minute proceedings from conferences that we attend. The National Institute of Corrections and Abt Associates are very pleased to provide this new service TPCI participants and others interested in Re-Entry best practices. We hope it allows you to multi-task and be more productive during your day while we bring you more engaging, accessible and useful information.

Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at New York Tenth Anniversary Prayer Breakfast

This transcript includes remarks about former inmate prejudice by First Lady Laura Bush today at the Convention Center in Albany, New York. Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at New York Tenth Anniversary Prayer Breakfast

After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry

The Legal Action Center (LAC) has completed a two year study on the legal obstacles that people with criminal records face when they attept to reentry society and become productive law-abiding citizens. The report has three important goals: ?Document state laws and policies that prevent qualified individuals with arrest and conviction records from obtaining employment, housing, food stamps and public assistance, and drivers' licenses, and from voting and becoming adoptive and foster parents. ?Grade states on whether their laws and policies help or hinder the ability of people with criminal records to reenter society successfully. This "Report Card" distinguishes between policies that serve legitimate ends, such as enabling employers to screen out individuals whose criminal behavior demonstrates they pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, and roadblocks that unfairly prevent those who do not pose a threat to public safety from successfully reentering society. ?Provide a blueprint for reform, outlining a series of legislative reforms state and federal governments should enact to ensure that that people with past criminal records are able to re-integrate successfully. Read the Report at the Legal Action Center

Adjusting Criminal Sentencing Guidelines in Michigan for Alternatives to Prison

Michigan Governor Jenifer Granholm's proposed state budget includes is plan to adjust criminal state sentencing guidelines for certain felonies. The proposal, which will either be approved or rejected later this year, is aimed at limiting a judge’s discretion, making state prison an option in fewer cases.

SAMHSA Grant Opportunity

Substance Abuse Treatment and Reentry Services to Sentenced Juveniles and Young Adult Offenders Returning to the Community from the Correctional System SAMHSA Grant Opportunity

From Kansas and Around the Country

- Faith based re-entry initiative in Wichita recieves $15,000 in support from Microsoft Corporation. - "We've got a broken corrections system," says Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas in a New York Times article. "Recidivism rates are too high and create too much of a financial burden on states without protecting public safety."

Ministry Targets Ex-Prisoners

This Washington Post article disccuses a faith-based reentry effort that is an integral part of DC's reentry strategy. The article is part of a package of reentry articles currently in development by the Post. Ministry Targets Vulnerable Population: Ex-Prisoners (washingtonpost.com)

Life on the Outside : The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett

Jennifer Gonnerman, a reporter for the Village Voice, tells the story of a woman trying to rebuild her life. Publisher's Weekly reviews the book, "The story of Elaine Bartlett, a first offender sentenced to a staggering 16 years for drug trafficking, and the fate of her four children both during and after her incarceration, is told in encyclopedic detail, sometimes to a fault-including the entire texts of many letters, minutiae of clothing and even full grocery lists ... [Gonnerman] skillfully uses Bartlett, a tough, assertive woman who struggles to hold a job and keep her family together after their enforced years of separation, as an exemplar of the wide-ranging impact of incarceration on both ex-cons and the communities they leave behind, a social problem just beginning to be studied. This book takes its place as part of a current broad reconsideration of the war on drugs and the unprecedented prison-industrial complex it has created in America." Amazon.com: Books: Life on the Outside : The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett Note: On occassion, the Re-Entry Blog presents books that we feel our readers will find interesting and insightful. For your convience, we link directly to Amazon.com so you may purchase these selections if you choose. The Re-Entry Blog, TPCI nor any other related agency recieves any recongition or renumeration for books purchased at Amazon.com.

The latest in must-see TV for felons: flat-screen sets

kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire

Mapping America's Prison Expansion

The Urban Institute has released a new study entitled "The New Landscape of Imprisonment: Mapping America's Prisons Expansion." The study compiles data on prisons built over the past 25 years, plotting expansion by state and by county within state. While it provides summary data for all states, it also focuses more intensively on the ten states that expanded prisons the most--Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Colorado, and Missouri. Nationally, the number of prisoners grew by 318 percent between 1980 and 2000. The number of prisons increased from 592 in 1974 to 1,023 in 2000. The study concluded that many new prisons were located in non-metro areas, and were expected to provide economic development to depressed areas. A large percentage of inmates in these prisons are from metropolitan areas, thereby making it more difficult to maintain ties to family and community and to develop realistic reentry plans. In 1979 only 13 percent of the nation's counties housed a prison--that increased to 31 percent by 2000. The full report can be obtained at the Urban Institute Website.

Alabama's Life skills Influenced through Fundamentals and Education

Wetumpka has for years been home to the Tutwiler Prison for Women, Alabama's only prison for female inmates. It is now also home to LIFE.tech, a transition facility for paroled women on the grounds of the former J.S. Tarwater Developmental Center, a facility once operated by the state Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. LIFE stands for Life skills Influenced through Fundamentals and Education. Full Opinion Piece at the Montgomery Advertiser

Breaking News: 2nd Circuit Upholds N.Y.'s Ban on Prisoner Voting

According to the New York Law Journal, the 2nd Circuit upheld New York State's ban on prisoner voting. The court rejected a black inmates claim that 'racial disparity in sentencing results in violations' of the federal voting rights act. As more information becomes available we will publish it on the Re-Entry Blog.

Mentoring program gets at-risk youths back on track

In California The Contra Costa County Library's Technology for Teens in Transition brings a mentor and transitioning teen offender together for a little guided Internet surfing and life coaching.

From Around the Country

To ease prison crowding Alabama, the states Board of Pardons and Paroles experiments with transitions centers for women just paroled from the prison system In a move intended to allow faith-based organizations greater access to incarcerated women, Florida’s Gov. Jeb Bush April 15 announced the opening of the nation’s first faith-based prison for women in Hillsborough County.

A Catch 22 for Ex-Offenders

"As the Bush administration focuses attention on ex-offenders with its modest program to help them return to the community, an eye-opening new study shows that the effort will require a lot more than re-entry programs. Not only do all 50 states continue to punish and marginalize convicts after they leave jail, but most also have laws that punish millions of people for crimes for which they were never convicted." more on this New York Times Editorial

Creating a Worldwide Re-Entry Knowledge Resource

For several decades, policy makers, researchers, and private industry have devised numerous programs, processes and systems to better share knowledge around ex-offender reintegration. The TPCI Review and the Re-Entry Blog are recent examples of such tools with the goal to share and exchange knowledge throughout the re-entry 'industry.' We are very happy with the response to these TPCI information sharing resources. The subscriber base of the TPCI Review has increased from an original 78 subscribers in October of last year, to almost 1,000 subscribers today. The traffic to the TPCI blog has increased significantly month on month since we began last October. While we are happy with these tools, we believe that a great deal of knowledge, expertise, and information of interest lies within our readership that may not be represented in these communication mechanisms. The TPCI Team is exploring several exciting options leveraging some breaking new processes, techniques and technologies that we will discuss both in posts here on the Re-Entry Blog and in the TPCI Review over the coming weeks. We expect the changes will provide our readers with an increasingly valuable resource for their re-entry initiatives.

When PowerPoint Kills a Meeting

Without a PowerPoint presentation (or a tool that is similar such as Apple's Keynote or Macromedia's Flash), a meeting is hardly a meeting. We all know how presentations laden with text, and poor public speaking skills can make a meeting pure drudgery. It happens all to often. A good powerpoint presentation - one used as a multi media aid, and a seasoned public speaker can do wonders for a meeting. It can educate, excite and entertain. It can bring together a diverse group of individuals by setting a foundation for ongoing conversations. Why then, even when the presentation is exactly on target, do PowerPoint presentations sometimes kill a meeting? I was in one such meeting the other day. We were gathered in a room to share ideas and find a solution for a common organizational problem. We were all encouraged to prepare a bit before the meeting. One person prepared a PowerPoint presentation - clearly he had done his homework. The ideas were on target, well articulated and to the point. In addition, the presenter was well groomed, extremely well spoken, and just animated enough to keep everyone's attention. And yet it killed the meeting. John Porcar in his blog, mktg@msft had a remarkably similar experience recently. He describes everyones reaction to a well thought out presentation during a brainstorming meeting. "So how did we react? By turning off our brains. I did it too. Most of the day, we brought up topics, used a flip chart, asked questions, and nearly everyone was involved. But it stopped cold when everyone's attention turned to a formal presentation." This stated publically by a Marketing Director at Microsoft. If a meeting is set up to share ideas, brainstorm and set priorities, a traditional presentation may actually hinder progress and participation. This experience reminds me that there is a difference between presenting ideas and sharing ideas. When I've spent the time formalizing and scripting my ideas, others may not share their own. It may be because of a concern of being impolite, it may be because a formal presentation builds enough credibility that the others don't feel the need to include more. In both my case, and John Pocaro's, where we had hoped to share ideas, even a incredibly well prepared and delivered Powerpoint hindered the sharing by simply presenting ideas. Reminds us that a conversation and a show accomplish very different ends.

Answers for Incarcerated Veterans

Just posted last month to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans website is a Transition Guide for Veterans that explains how to find affordable housing and employment, and how to apply for benefits. Each copy of the guide costs $1 and can be used by professionals assisting veterans and others through the transition process. Veterans Incarcerated Transition Guide

Need More Information on Hiring Persons with Criminal Backgrounds

The H.I.R.E. Network has compiled important information for employers on the federal bonding program, state tax credits, and work opportunity tax credits. H.I.R.E. Resources and Assistance

From Around the Country

In Ohio, The NAACP is taking its message inside prison walls to help inmates make a smoother transition to life on the outside. Urban Institute Press releases The Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities. The Santa Cruz Currents discusses a chapter written by Craig Haney.

Marketing TPCI Once You're A Participant

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the average American is bombarded with 2500 advertising messages on a daily basis. With budget restrictions, many of us are performing at an unprecedented level of productivity - completely consumed by our own job, plus pieces of several others. States implementing the Transition from Prison to Community model are well aware that it requires thorough buy-in and participation from hundreds of individuals across organizational and community boundaries over a long time frame. While traditional marketing practices are most often associated with the private sector, and their wish to attract new customers, marketing also provides tools to interact, remind and retain our existing stakeholders and participants. As our attention becomes further and further constrained, by our jobs and responsibilities ... while marketing messages are increasingly more common ... marketing TPCI to your stakeholders and participants, even after your launch, is a vitally important part of success. The National Institute of Correction and Abt Associates already provide current and interested participants with valuable marketing and outreach tools. The TPCI Review, a monthly newsletter is widely distributed in several states participating in the project. While the Re-Entry blog covers a range of topics far wider than TPCI implementation, process and progress, it does provide a link to a wider re-entry reform movement for individuals who feel the need for connection to a larger cause. NIC and Abt Associates are experimenting with new methods and techniques to help current state participants build, maintain and enhance that connection to each state's individual TPCI initiatives, and the program as a whole. Marketing, if done correctly, not only creates awareness, interest (and maybe even an intent to buy), but also a connection to a community. In a world of competing priorities for human knowledge, personal time and simple effort creating this connection to TPCI is an essential portion of its success.

From Around the Country

While we do not keep actual statistics, it appears Sunday newspapers heavily covered issues related to TPCI and Ex-Offender Re-Entry. Arizona Republic - The number of children in grandparents' homes ballooned nearly 74 percent in Arizona from 1990 to 2000. Typically, the caregiver is an impoverished single grandmother tending troubled children, the legacy of parents in prison, addicted to alcohol and drugs or simply too immature to raise their children. -The Boston Globe encourages the legislature to adopt new parole programs for low risk inmates convicted of drug possession. -The Hartford Currant local profiles a new training course for inmates to help them transition back into society. -An opinion piece in the Indiana Star, discusses issues related to the Indiana Offender Reintegration Project (TPCI) -The Arizona Republic discusses grandparents caring for children of incarcerated parents.

Indiana TPCI Launch Widely Covered in Local Television Media

Several local Indianapolis television news stations have covered the launch of TPCI Indiana. See the previous post for another station's coverage. WTHR, an NBC Affiliate in Indianapolis

TPCI Launches in Indiana as 'Offender Reintegration Project'

Indiana is one of just nine states that are developing new ways of helping prison inmates transition back into society. Governor Joe Kernan spoke Tuesday morning at a conference kicking off the new program that will give each inmates an individualized plan for returning to his or her community. That plan will be established as soon as an offender arrives in prison. "It is to make sure that we're maintaining public safety but it also is to look at ways for us to make sure that those who are returning to our communities become assets instead of liabilities," said The new program is called the Offender Reintegration Project and its being developed with the help of the National Institute of Corrections. From WishTV Channel 8 Indianapolis

I’m too Busy

You don’t have the resources, you don’t have enough time, the opportunity isn’t ripe. In the third of a series of articles applying recent breakthroughs in private sector organizational theory to the re-entry setting, we examine a recent article in the March 2004 Harvard Business Review by Sumantra Ghoshal and Heike Bruch – “How to Reclaim Your Job” “The truly effective managers we’ve observed purposefully trust their own judgment and adopt long term, big picture views to fulfill personal goals that tally with those of the organization as a whole,” says Ghoshal. By design, the system mapping task within the TPCI implementation process provides managers and stakeholders with that big picture view of the overall re-entry process. “What gets in the way of managers success is a deep uncertainty about acting according to their own best judgment. Rather than doing what they really need to do to advance the organizations fortunes – they spin their wheels doing what they presume every one else wants them to do.” In part the TPCI Model provides a framework to provide jurisdictions with a foundation from which to determine actions and allocate resources to fulfill goals that reduce risk and provide better services. By providing an organized structure to view the entire re-entry process and organization – along with each stakeholder’s role – TPCI provides participants with actionable insight and potential opportunity. “The ability to seize initiative is the most essential quality of any truly successful manager,” the authors continue. “In most cases the demands that managers accept as givens are actually discretionary in nature. Most managers complain about having too little freedom in their jobs while their bosses complain about managers’ failure to grasp opportunities.” So, you have great ideas – maybe implementing the TPCI model has allowed you to see your system in new ways. Still, demands seem to stack up. Resources are few, and alternatives don’t seem to exist. Ghoshal and Bruch suggest the following. Manage Demands: -Overcome the psychological desire to be indispensable. Many young managers thrive on being needed – the busier they are the more valuable they feel. In time many managers begin to fail, or simply burn out – typically pleasing everyone means pleasing no one. -Set long term priorities and stick to them. Ghoshal says,”It is easier to fight fires than set priorities and stick to them. Almost everyone complains about not having enough time to deal with all the demands, but in reality a highly fragmented day is also a very lazy day.” Developing Resources -Attack your strategic goals with patience. While resources to fulfill the entire goal immediately may not be available, they may be for smaller subsets. By parsing long term goals into smaller pieces you can move towards a long term vision and demonstrate incremental return on investment that may make more resources available in the future. Exploit Alternatives - Become aware of you freedom to act. By surrendering your freedom to act, managers ignore their options and alternatives. Use the implementation of the TPCI model to see, grasp and fight for opportunities as they arise.

United Kingdom: Write Stuff to Help Prisoners Re-Enter

World Justice Information Network: "Full Story from the Evening Mail"

New Calif. Prisons Chief Takes on System, including new Parole programs

"We need to remember that the door of the prison swings both ways," says Jeanne S. Woodford, newly appointed chief for the country's largest prison system. In addition to sweeping system changes, the department also has started a new parole program designed to keep more inmates from returning to prison by easing their transition back to a normal life. The parole program began only in January but is showing early promise. The number of parolees returning to prison has dropped by 4,248, from 24,696 at the end of February 2003 to 20,448 this year. Ready Full Story at the AP Wire

Connecticut Panel eyes new action on prison and re-entry reform

The proposed legislation would merge the boards of pardon and parole within the Department of Correction for administrative purposes only and authorizes the chairman to grant early parole release to halfway houses, group homes or treatment programs for certain inmates who are within 18 months of parole or conditional parole release dates. Dyson said the bill also would allocate $1.1 million for programs in Hartford and New Haven that would help released prisoners successfully transition into housing, employment and treatment services, if needed. Full Story at New Haven Register

Managing Organizational Forgetting

While many of you know Abt Associates for our social policy work, the company also has practices in business research and science and technology. Occasionally, our associates in the business practices find things in the business world that we feel our corrections readers will benefit from. One such article, Controlling Organizational Energy to Create Change Towards Effective Transition from Prison to Community Initiatives appeared in a December Re-Entry Blog post. Another article recently came to the attention of our business colleagues. Knowledge management is an important aspect of organizational change – regardless of whether changing a business or a public sector system. While creating and maintaining knowledge within an organization well understood, a recent article in MIT’s Sloan Management Review looks at the issue from an alternative perspective. How does an organization unlearn, or forget bad habits, outdated practices, or old procedures? Holan, Phillips and Lawrence say, “Organizational learning frequently depends upon processes of organizational forgetting. Companies that want to transform themselves not only must acquire new capabilities, but they must also forget old knowledge that traps them in the past.” The authors site two categories of intention “forgetting,” unlearning and avoiding bad habits. According to the article, unlearning is accomplished by breaking routine practices via a catalyst and champion. TPCI is meant to be that catalyst and champion of for states that participate. Each state is provided with a site coordinator and technical assistance to both create new knowledge and practice, and unlearn old habits. The authors caution not to over learn from either failure or successes as a way to avoid bad habits. They state it is actually easy to learn, the challenge is learning the right things. When an organization encounters failure or success from an effort it is essential to understand why. TPCI encourages the implementation of procedures to accurately measure both outcomes AND processes. Understanding the processes that lead to a positive (or negative) outcome in re-entry practices will help your organization build knowledge that does not need to be forgotten. The article can be found in the most recent issue of the MIT Management Review, Winter 2004, Volume 45, No 2.

The Family and Re-Entry:The Role of Fathers in Reducing Risk

Program seeks to help dads behind bars connect with their kids [In Sarasota, Florida], prisoners learn how to read story books so they can read to their children when they come to visit. In the Father Read Program there is usually a lot of laughter because in the class there is a lot of role-playing," Painter said. "I know some people get angry when they hear about privileges prisoners have, such as visitation, but there may be a greater cost to society if visitation with children is not allowed. Lois Watkins, director of Edgecombe County's Bridging the Gap, a nonprofit organization that tries to restore the father and child bond, agrees that society is more dangerous when children have no contact with a father - [in prison or not.] This is an excerpt, read the full story at the Hearald Tribune

Upcoming TPCI Review: The Family and Re-Entry

On March 12th, the next issue of the TPCI Review will arrive in subscriber e-mail boxes. With this issue, we begin our year long series of articles on “The Top Re-Entry Issues of 2004," with an article expanding the national discussion to include the role of family in e-entry. Guest contributor Jeanne Flavin of Fordham University in New York City provides a perspective on an issue nominated by re-entry professionals across the country. If you do not already subscribe to the free TPCI Review, do so now by entering your e-mail in the subscribe box to the left.

NGA 2004 Winter Meeting Special Session on The National Challenge of Prisoner Reentry

NGA convened for a special session on prisoner reentry Pat Caruso, Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections was invited to speak about reentry reforms being undertaken in Michigan. At this point in time, there are 3 states -Michigan, Rhode Island and Georgia - that are participants in both NIC's TPCI Initiative and the NGA Reentry Policy Academy. In all of the TPCI states the Governor's Office has been involved in the State Level Policy Team to some degree. In some states the Governor's Office "convened" the policy team, and in other states they have "endorsed" a policy team that was brought together through the work of state agency directors. In both cases the support of the Governor's Office is a welcomed prospect for any group wishing to take on this issue. The link below takes you to the NGA website, where you'll find audio and video clips of Thomas MacLellan of NGA, Jeremy Travis of the Urban Institute, Pat Caruso of Michigan DOC, and Cheri Nolan of the Department of Justice talking about Reentry. NGA Center for Best Practices

More prisoners in N.D. being paroled

"We're the most conservative paroling system in the country," said Warren Emmer, director of the state Field Services Division, which handles parole and probation. Still, this week 221 people were on parole in North Dakota, 100 more than just a few years ago. Full Story Bismarck Tribune Online - Bismarck, ND

New York joins Transition from Prison to Community Initiative

The National Institute of Corrections and Abt Associates have invited New York to become the eighth state to participate in the Transition from Prison to Community Initiative. Three New York agencies--the Department of Correctional Services, the Division of Parole, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services--submitted a joint application to NIC to join the TPCI. Kermit Humphries, NIC's project officer, Dale Parent, TPCI Project Director, and Liz Barnett, TPCI Deputy Director, met with officials from those three agencies Monday and Tuesday in Albany during the final phases of the selection process. Roger Jefferies, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Strategic Planning, Division of Criminal Justice Services, will be New York's site contact for the TPCI project. Liz Barnett will be TPCI's site coordinator, and will work closely with Jefferies as New York officials plan their reforms. New York will use the work done in the past year by its Reentry Task Force as a springboard for its TPCI efforts. New York released over 29,000 offenders from its prisons last year, making it the largest correctional system among the eight TPCI participant sites. Other participants include Oregon, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Georgia. NIC and Abt will add one additional site to the project in the near future.

Helping Inmates Find Their Way Home (washingtonpost.com)

Thanks to Leonard Sipes, Jr., of the Federal Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia for alerting us to this article in the Washington Post. Helping Inmates Find Their Way Home (washingtonpost.com) - Registration Required

TPCI Accepts another State to the Project.

Georgia has just been invited to join the ranks of six other states implementing the TPCI Model. The Center for Effective Public Policy's Richard Stroker, former Deputy Director of the South Carolina Probation, Parole and Pardons Services and former chief legal counsel for the South Carolina Department of Corrections will act as the new site-coordinator. CEPP has been instrumental in the site work of the TPCI by providing exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable experts for key functions. Peggy Burke facilitated the Missouri Kickoff Meeting in September of 2002, Becki Ney facilitated the Michigan Kickoff in October 2003 and participated in the Missouri Kickoff, and Paul Herman has served as the site-coordinator in Missouri since the summer of 2002. We are looking forward to further engagements with the Center on this Project. For more information about the Center please see www.cepp.com

Reentry from a Victim-, Family-, and Harm-centered Perspective

The Three R's of Reentry, repartive justice, relationships and responsibility, a 22 page white paper published by DC's Justice Solutions discusses reentry from a different perspective.

Critics say the number of mentally ill prisoners tracked by a new Rikers database is far too low

Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities claim hundreds of mentally ill imates seem to be missing from the computer system put in place to monitor compliance with the year old Brad H Settlement. Brad H requires the city to provide transition assistance to mentailly ill inmates. Full Story

Covering Crime and Justice: A Guide for Journalists

If you're trying to work with your local media on the type of coverage being provided of the criminal justice system this guide might help. It is written and edited by a group called the Criminal Justice Journalists. The project is a collaborative effort of the Institute for Justice and Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Southern California and the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. Covering Crime and Justice

Collaboration for Systemic Change

Both the TPCI project and the project entitled "Implementing Effective Correctional Management of Offenders in the Community" focus heavily on collaboration. Since no public safety agency operates in a vacuum, collaboration with stakeholders is critical to the succesfull implementation of any systemic change. Collaboration is more than just meeting together. It is coming together for a common vision; attaining goals greater than those achieved by one organization working alone. View this link at NIC's web page for more information on what collaboration really means.

Having Trouble Paying for Alcohol and Drug Treatment?

Perhaps The Legal Action Center's Resources for Recovery: State Policy Options for Increasing Access to Alcohol and Drug Treatment Through Medicaid & TANF can help. The report "examines addiction and addiction treatment, including data demonstrating treatment effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for Medicaid populations; provides background about key social welfare programs (including Medicaid, TANF, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program); presents case studies of four states and one county that have adopted promising practices to increase Medicaid or TANF funding for alcohol and drug treatment; and offers state policy options for improving reimbursement for alcohol and drug treatment services through these programs." (Funded by SAMHSA and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.)

Georgia Becomes the 7th State to Join TPCI

Kermit Humphries and I just returned from a visit to Georgia where after a day of meeting with criminal justice officials we invited them into the project. They happily accepted. Georgia was one of the 8 states invited to submit full applications last spring.

Getting Out and Staying Out in New York City

Faith-based organizations aren't the only ones doing mentoring for returning offenders. Concerned citizens with innovative ideas are taking the initiative to help people succeed one by one. New York Daily News - Boroughs - School of hard knocks

Press release says New York's "right-sizing" policies lowers their prison population and improves public safety

New York's prison population is expected to drop to 65,100 by March 31, 2004, marking a fifth straight year of declines from their peak at nearly 72,000. According to a press release from the Department of Correctional Serivces (DOCS), New York has pursued a policy of "right-sizing", that involves increasing the rate of release for non-violent offenders who complete expanded rehabilitation programs, reducing the number of low-security prison beds, and expanding the number of high-security prison beds for a growing population of violent offenders serving long sentences. The press release notes that total index crimes in New York dropped 45 percent between 1994 and 2002 (compared to 23 percent nationally), while violent crime rates dropped 49 percent (compared to 32 percent nationally). Because of fewer inmates and reduced idleness, the inmate-on-staff assault rate dropped to 8.6 per 1,000 inmates last year, the lowest since 1999. Three-year success rates on parole have increased by 33 percent for those released in 1998 compared to a cohort released in 1988. For more details, visit the New York State Department of Correctional Services website: www.docs.state.ny.us

Re-Entry Professionals Nominate Most Important Re-Entry Issues of 2004

A Special Edition TPCI Review highlights eight issues that we are likely to talk about in 2004. Some are obvious and would make the list every year. Some are new ideas that deserve attention. Others are emerging trends we expect to hear more about in 2004. It is not an exhaustive list, but it presents a point-in- time picture of the nationwide collective Re-Entry mindset. Starting with the February Issue of the TPCI Review, we will take a more in-depth look at each nomination with guest contributors, additional resources, and a discussion of TPCI in relation to these issues. With eight nominations we have purposefully left a couple of slots open. After all, January is not the only time to take stock and set priorities. Click Here to see the Top Re-Entry Issues for 2004. Make a nomination yourself by submitting a comment.

Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign

The Annie E. Casey's Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign is designed to support the work of community and faith-based organizations through offering media resources that will facilitate community discussion and decision making about solution-based reentry programs. Through a collaborative relationship with the Urban Institute, they have also produced a series of reports on community based programs for offenders called Outside the Walls: A National Snapshot of Community-based Prisoner Reentry Programs. The series systematically addresses reentry issues such as education, employment, health, housing, family, public safety, and the faith community. For each topic they provide a description of sample programs and a briefing paper. Outside the Walls Report

South Carolina Governor Proposes Education Program to help inmates transition from prison

Text of Governor Sanford's 2004 State of the State Address: "In our prison system right now, there are almost 24,000 inmates and about 63 percent of the total prison population doesn't have a high school education or equivalency. Up until now, if a capable inmate wasn't interested in getting an education, there was nothing we could do about it. I've instructed Jon Ozmint to change that policy at Corrections, and to make participation in education programs mandatory for appropriate inmates. If an inmate refuses, they don't get privileges, period. Despite these budget times, I propose allocating $2.5 million to this program because it is crazy to continue sending folks out of a criminal justice system with no better educational leg to stand on and expect good results. "

Leading Organizational Change & Development in Community Corrections

Community corrections leaders are being called on to alleviate system pressures by supervising increasing numbers of offenders in the community more efficiently and effectively. Meeting this challenge requires leaders to rethink how they do business and to lead their organizations through rapid change and innovation. Shifting the way community corrections agencies do business is no easy task and requires energetic leadership with a willingness to place equal focus on evidence-based principles in service delivery, organizational development, and collaboration. These three components form an integrated model for system reform. Click here for more information on what this organizational development work means for your agency.

The Corrections Connection Profiles TPCI in Michigan

The Corrections Connection News Center - Program Profile

Reentry and the State of the Union

In case you missed the President's State of the Union address, here's what he had to say on prisoner reentry: "In the past, we've worked together to bring mentors to children of prisoners, and provide treatment for the addicted, and help for the homeless. Tonight I ask you to consider another group of Americans in need of help. This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit crime and return to prison. So tonight, I propose a four-year, $300 million prisoner re-entry initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups. America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."

TPCI Developments

Dale Parent and I are working closely with Elyse Clawson and Lore Joplin of the Crime and Justice Institute to integrate two major NIC projects. CJI’s project Implementing Effective Interventions in Community Corrections and our Transition from Prison to Community Initiative both stress collaboration and organizational development as necessary for the successful implementation of “evidence based practices” in criminal justice. The CJI Project currently focuses on reform in probation, but its principles apply equally to parole and institutional services. Meanwhile the TPCI Model provides guidance around the integration of these discreet aspects of the system. As the scope of the TPCI is broader, covering institutional assessment and classification through community supervision, less attention was devoted at the outset to developing materials on organizational development and collaboration. In the current version of the Model organizational development is implied through language related to “changing the way organizations do business”, while collaboration is dealt with more directly. Fortunate for us, CJI has developed excellent materials on this topic and are allowing us to benefit from their efforts. In the next week, we will be posting the materials developed through CJI’s project on the blog. These materials will also be available through the NIC website.

Implementing Effective Interventions in Community Corrections

Since the mid-1990s, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) has promoted evidence-based practices in community corrections through training, information sharing, and technical assistance. Now, through a cooperative agreement established in the fall of 2002, NIC has joined with the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) to assist two pilot states (Illinois and Maine) in applying an integrated approach to the implementation of evidence-based principles in community corrections. The project model maintains an equal and integrated focus on three domains: the implementation of evidence-based principles, organizational development, and collaboration. The project vision is to "build learning organizations that reduce recidivism through systemic integration of evidence-based principles in collaboration with community and justice partners." A videoconference providing an overview of the project model and engaging practitioners in discussion regarding the model will air on February 25, 2004. More information on the video conference

NH Prison Terms Revisited

New Hampshire announces plans similar to Arizona and Louisiana - changing sentencing regulations to reduce prison populations and save money. Prison terms revisited

State Law May Let Well-Behaved Inmates Out Early

We have tracked a number of states over the past several weeks, who like Connecticut in this article, are considering changes in policy and even law to ease corrections populations by releasing certain types of inmates early. By releasing well behaved inmates early, Connecticut expects to cut its prison roles by 475, and save over $3 million. State Law May Let Well-Behaved Inmates Out Early

Assessing Program Quality

Determining Innovation and Excellence in Criminal Justice Programs By Michael Shively In discussions with people involved in operating and evaluating reentry and other kinds of programs, the topic of how to assess the relative value of different programs (i.e., "what works") often arises. Researchers (like me) tend to be reluctant to endorse any program or program model without rigorous program evaluations. However, the urgent needs for programming do not rest while awaiting state-of-the-art evaluation results. Program operators and designers are usually in a position where they must create or modify programs NOW, and must make use of the best information available NOW. I recently ran into this issue while working on a review of best practices in law enforcement training and education. On the chance that it may be of some help to anyone involved in designing or modifying reentry programming, I offer a couple of paragraphs about judging program quality in the typical absence of perfect information. Its written about police training models, but may also apply to reentry programming: ------- The "gold standard" in a review of best practices is programs or models that are regarded as innovative and effective by law enforcement practitioners and researchers alike, and have been demonstrated to be effective through rigorous evaluation. Ideally, both of the major kinds of evaluations have been conducted: Process evaluations, which examine the extent to which programs have been implemented as intended, and outcome evaluations (sometimes used interchangeably with the term "impact evaluation), which assess whether programs have achieved their goals and produced the intended effects. This gold standard is difficult standard to attain, particularly due to the criteria of having been evaluated. Scientifically sound evaluations, particularly impact assessments, are resource-intensive, often difficult to achieve logistically, and usually take years to conduct. For example, a large-scale effort to evaluate model criminal justice training programs is currently being funded by NIJ and conducted by the Institute of Law and Justice. There are currently more than 80 model training programs in the areas of law enforcement, correction, and courts that are funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. A sample of these model programs are being subjected to a rigorous evaluation, and the results of this study are likely to be extremely useful in establishing the demonstrated “state of the art” in criminal justice training. However, the results of this evaluation are unlikely to be available for at least three years. This level of evaluation is rare, in part due to costing one million dollars and taking several years to evaluate just a handful of programs. For these and other reasons the majority of criminal justice training programs are not systematically evaluated. In areas where there is an absence of systematic empirical evaluations, training practices must be judged to be innovative or effective by other means. In general, a consensus of expert opinion (i.e., primarily law enforcement professionals, as well as researchers) about a program’s utility is a useful standard. Many programs have been developed through a review of professional and research literature, examination of best practices in other agencies' training curricula and programs, and consultation with recognized experts in law enforcement training and adult education. For example, the Alabama Department of Public safety developed a training program for state police supervisors through an internal needs assessment, an analysis of curricula used in other agency's training programs, and through seeking expert opinion. While the programs derived from such a process may not have been evaluated for their effectiveness, the fact that they have been built on a foundation of best practices and components that have been demonstrated effective by evaluations elsewhere provides an elevated level of confidence in the program.

Veteran's benefits can be paid while in prison.

For More Information

Funding for Incarcerated Veterans Transition Programs

New DOL solicitation anticipates awarding four grants of up to $250,000 each for projects that will provide services to incarcerated veterans at one or more levels of the correctional system, i.e., Federal, State and local, in order for the participants to transition into the workforce. VETS will seek applicants that provide direct services through a case management approach that networks with Federal, State, and local resources for veteran support programs that have clear strategies for employment and retention and/or life skills treatment of the previously incarcerated veteran. Proposals are due on January 21, 2004. Full Program Announcement

Hundreds of Drug Offenders Eligible for Release Under new Arizona Law to Decrease Prison Costs

The law, which could affect up to 4800 or 16% of Arizona's inmate population, requires the Department of Corrections to contract with a substance abuse treatment provider. Those inmates with a drug conviction will be released into this transition system three months early. Hundreds of inmates eligible for release

Consensus Project: Chapter IV: Incarceration and Reentry

The Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project is a national effort coordinated by the Council of State Governments (CSG) to help local, state, and federal policymakers and criminal justice and mental health professionals improve the response to people with mental illness who become involved in, or are at risk of involvement in, the criminal justice system. The Consensus Project Report was drafted by CSG and representatives of leading criminal justice and mental health organizations and reflects the results of a series of meetings among 100 of the most respected criminal justice and mental health practitioners in the country. The report was released in June 2002. Chapter IV contains commentary, standards and recommendations for dealing more effectively with mentally ill inmates during imprisonment and reentry. The recommendations are highly consistent with positions advocated in the TPCI model, but are specified for mentally ill offenders. Other chapters of the Consensus Project report also are pertinent to Transition reformers. For example, Chapter I provides an overview about developing links between criminal justice and mental health, Chapter V contains recommendations on improving collaboration among stakeholder agencies, and Chapter VII outlines elements of an effective mental health system, with particular reference to topics pertinent to transition, such as housing, family involvement, etc. Finally, Chapter VIII describes measuring performance, providing feedback on reforms to further improve them. The Consensus Project website is a very practical and useful resource for those working to improve services to mentally ill offenders who are under criminal justice jurisdiction. Consensus Project: Chapter IV: Incarceration and Reentry

Sorting through Federal Funding Streams

The Office of Justice Programs has made a significant contribution to sorting through federal grant recipients at the state and local level. The link provided below takes you to a map of the United States where you can view, by state, corresponding information from BJA, EOWS, OJJDP, Office for Victims of Crime, and Office on Violence Against Women. The links provide information on VOITIS and RSAT funding, local Weed & Seed sites, and contact persons in each designated state agency. All of these resources are criminal justice related, but similar funding streams exist from all federal agencies, making it necessary to uncover all potential links to offender reentry. State Activities & Resources (Reentry)

The Seattle Times Opinion Article on the Value of Re-Entry Courts in Indiana

The Seattle Times: Opinion: A better deal for ex-offenders

New Ex-offender Programs Funded in Five Cities

The Department of Justice's Value-Based Reentry Initiative grant program has awarded 1.3 million dollars to five cities: Boston, Detroit, Washington DC, Kansas City and Oakland. The program supports local partnerships to develop mentoring teams that assist offenders to successfully reintegrate back into the community. Press Release

Cutting Corrections Costs

We've recently gotten requests for information on cost cutting measures instituted by states within the TPCI. Though many of our states have zero growth mandates right now, we do not readily have this information. However last year, the Justice Policy Institute wrote a report documenting these trends. JPI continues to track news articles related to the topic as well. For the Full Report: Cutting Correctly Cutting Correctly: One Year Later

Disenfranchisement: An Important Reentry Issue

Successful offender reintegration has as its end-point full participation in society - particularly active engagement in the workforce, as well as civic institutions. Much discourse has taken place around these issues in recent years especially the range of felony disenfranchisement laws. Many organizations are actively pursuing research in the range and impact of these laws. The following links provide stimulating reading on the subject. The Sentencing Project Human Rights Watch Demos

Fact not Fiction: Using Data to Set Priorities in Missouri

Having completed a system map and established a multi-agency policy team, Missouri officials addressed their next challenge: setting reform priorities. The Steering Team, which consists of participants from 7 state agencies, undertook an extensive data-gathering process, under the leadership of the Transition from Prison to Community Initiative (TPCI) state contact person, Tom Clements, Assistant Director of the Division of Adult Institutions, the TPCI site-coordinator Paul Herman of the Center for Effective Public Policy, and Chris Egbert of the Department of Corrections (DOC) Planning Division, and with the support of Peggy Huddleston of the DOC.. The Steering Team implemented a five-step process to ensure that recommendations made by the group were based on fact rather than fiction. Their first step was to brainstorm ideas about what a successfully transitioned offender “is” and “has.” This activity resulted in a range of topics from employment, vocational training, substance abuse, housing, mental and physical needs, and education, to visitation. They then used these general ideas to develop nearly 50 research questions that could be answered by data held by the DOC and other state agencies. For example, they asked, “Of the individuals released, how long does it take to obtain full-time employment?“ and “Of offenders returned, what percentage are re-incarcerated because of substance abuse?” The Steering Team also decided to include the perspective of offenders (including those in pre-release status, those on parole, and those whose parole had been revoked) and the perspectives of probation and parole officers in their data collection efforts. In the end, they conducted over 25 focus groups in urban, suburban, and rural jurisdictions. In each focus group they asked participants a series of questions about what current services were the most helpful and what else could be done to assist them make this difficult transition. These focus group activities resulted in a sizable amount of data, which required the assistance of a local university professor to conduct the data analysis and to author the final report. The author presented the responses to each question for male and female urban respondents and male and female rural responders. Although some might have liked to jump ahead and solve perceived problems, the Steering Team trusted the process and devoted the necessary time – seven months -- and resources -- researchers with specialized skills – to build a solid foundation for proceeding. Making the effort to accurately understand the problem, before setting recommendations for reforms, will likely provide a superior return of investment for their long-term TPCI effort. Missouri’s process enabled them to generate a complete picture of the needs of people being served by the correctional system, as well as to demonstrate, through quantitative data, that people accessing the services of DOC have similar needs and characteristics as those being served by the state’s other human service agencies. Furthermore, by devoting the necessary time for this process, the Policy Team developed relationships and a vision for the future among civil servants with diverse priorities and mandates. A collaborative endeavor, such as the TPCI, necessitates transparency by all of its participants. The leadership of Missouri’s TPCI understood the importance of this process as a means to fundamentally change how business is done.

Georgia Governor Makes Faith Based Endorsement to Aid Releasees Find Work After Prison

The Republican governor put in a plug for an amendment to the constitution allowing the state to contract with religious organizations when one of the panelists, Savannah State University student Crystal Boggs, said something should be done to help prison inmates, who are disproportionately black, find jobs after they are released. Governor Perdue said the amendment would help the state aid churches in sponsoring individual inmates during their rehabilitation and help them find work after prison. AccessNorthGa.com - Your Online Local Newspaper

December Issue of the TPCI Review

This is the time when many of us traditionally set priorities for the coming year. With the Holidays nearing, the TPCI Review will arrive a week early on December 17th. In this early issue we will focus on setting priorities in relation to the TPCI model. We also hope that you will share one of your top re-entry related priorities with us. The top priorities across the country will serve as a basis for the January Issue of the TPCI Review and an ongoing series of articles well into the new year. Share your top Priorities

System Mapping to Set Priorities

Offender attributes are not the only consideration when using a rigorous approach to set TPCI priorities. The data driven process recommended in the TPCI model refers to both offender and system attributes. Setting priorities focused on the offender without changing the system will accomplish little. The following article describes the system mapping process undertaken in Michigan and Missouri. Officials in Missouri and Michigan began their TPCI reforms by doing a “system mapping” exercise. Officials first drew a flow chart that tracked the paths on which offenders move from their admission to prison to their successful discharge from community supervision. Their flowcharts were similar, but each reflected their state’s unique laws and practices. Officials then documented their flow charts, by describing the number and characteristics of offenders who passed through key decision points each year, and by describing the practices, policies, and procedures that structured decisions at each point. Finally, officials compared their practices at each decision point to those contained in the TPCI Model in order to highlight their strengths and weaknesses. System mapping was important because officials (a) got a common understanding about how their systems operated, (b) focused first on answering factual questions, rather than immediately debating deeply held values, and (c) could analyze the data to discover common interests around which they could erect durable and effective multi-agency partnerships. System mapping is, however, only the first step of a data-driven planning and management process. It can help officials decide how to organize working groups to plan their TPCI reforms, and, perhaps, identify a few problems that they can solve quickly, giving some “quick wins” to further mobilize enthusiasm for long-term reforms. Working groups will need more detailed information about problems within their specific area of responsibility. After reforms are planned and implemented, the TPCI model presumes states will monitor their reforms—meaning they will routinely collect and analyze data on how the reforms work (both regarding process and outcomes) and feed results back to appropriate decision makers. Those decision makers will use the feedback to (a) fine-tune reforms, or (b) re-assess problems (as problems evolve over time), and redesign reforms accordingly. This process of monitoring, reporting, modifying, and monitoring is a continuous loop. It is a not a new burden that states assume under TPCI. Rather, it is a new and smarter way to do business that will pay dividends in increased effectiveness and efficiency.

United Kingdom Perspective: Three Rs Behind Bars for Successful Transition

Prison populations across the United Kingdom are 'bulging at the seams' according to the BBC. Transition from Prison to community has therefore become a major prison population reduction tool. Research in the UK strongly suggests that prisoners who pick up reading and writing skills are far less likely to offend. However, few prisons actually offer worthwhile basic education services. Full Story at BBC-Online

Transition from Prison to Community Initiative's Press Release

Business Wire picked up a press release issued by Abt Associates describing the TPCI model and its importance. Abt Associates and the National Institute of Corrections Develop a Model to Guide Offender Transition from Prison to Community; Six states are launching landmark correctional reforms

More Press on Research from New Jersey Re-Entry Roundtable

The research released last week by the New Jersey Re-Entry Roundtable continues to receive publicity in statewide and local press. This opinion piece makes an argument to fiscal conservatives that strong re-entry programming is not necessarily about giving ex-offenders a second chance but is actually the surest way to control growing corrections costs. Opinion, Editorials, Columns: The Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey Study on Returning Ex-Offenders

Two studies were comissioned by the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable, a group of government officials, academics, business leaders and social service providers. The studies show that four times the number of inmates were released last year than in 1980. One in ten had a communicable disease such as AIDS or hepatitis. Half had a drug or alcohol problem, eleven percent suffered from mental illness a third were released without parole supervision, and more than a third end up back in prison. "Re-entry is the No. 1 issue in corrections today because finally people have realized that there's been a consequence to our urgency to get tough on crime," said state Corrections Commissioner Devon Brown, whose department spends $28,000 a year per inmate. "Ninety-five percent of inmates return to society one day, and that day is now." Full Article at the Star Ledger

Faith- and Community- Based Initiatives

Faith- and community-based initiatives will play an important role in any TPCI reentry initiative. According to the TPCI model, these agencies should be involved in state level and place-based partnerships. For example, the Michigan TPCI kickoff established a state-wide Advisory Council that included numerous faith and community based programs, and the Missouri TPCI Team included members of the faith- and community- based agencies on numerous working groups. These agencies also have a potential role in the institutional, reentry and community phases of planning for release. In this time of state budget shortfalls and reduced federal spending, faith- and community-based initiatives are increasingly the recipients of federal dollars. In fact, each of the federal agencies playing a role in re-entry has established a website and a funding stream to support this work. Department of Education Department of Health and Human Services Department of Labor Department of Justice Housing and Urban Development White House

Controlling Organizational Energy to Create Change Towards Effective Transition from Prison to Community Initiatives

A recent article in MIT’s Sloan Management Review discusses strategies for “unleashing organizational energy.” Any entity that decides to undertake a re-entry reform will undoubtedly find the need to change the way the organization operates. Such change requires significant energy from leaders, employees, and stakeholders to be successful. According the article written by University of St Gallen’s (Switzerland), Heike Bruch, and London Business School’s Sumantra Ghoshal, by understanding your organization’s energy type, you can apply techniques to more effectively create change. Bruch and Ghashal describe four organizational energy types: Comfort Zone. Bruch and Ghashal describe this type of organization as having “low animation and a relatively high level of satisfaction, with weak but positive emotions such as calm contentedness. They lack the vitality, alertness and emotional tension necessary for initiating bold new strategic thrusts or significant change.” Resignation Zone. The article describes the resignation zone as one of weak, negative emotions including frustration, disappointment, and sorrow. “People suffer from lethargy and feel emotional distant from [organizational] goals. They lack excitement or hope.” Aggression Zone. Such organizations “experience internal tension founded on strong, negative emotions.” Bruch and Ghashal characterize organizations in this state as having a tension that drives an intensely competitive spirit, “which manifests itself in high levels of activity and alertness.” Passion Zone. Described as organizations where employees “thrive on strong, positive emotions,” with joy and pride in their work. “Employees enthusiasm and excitement mean that attention is directed toward shared organization priorities. Over time as internal and external situations change, organizations will naturally find themselves moving from one zone to another. With recent budget crises, corrections and other social service agencies may find themselves with low quality and intensity of organization energy – or in the resignation zone, which is not optimal for change initiatives. What techniques can help an organization move from the resignation zone to the aggression or passion zones that are better environments for change? Slaying the Dragon: “This strategy involves a clear articulation of an imminent threat, the release of strong, negative emotions and channeling of those emotions toward overcoming the treat.” In the field of re-entry, such threats might include a significant increase in violent crime by re-entered ex-offenders, or in deaths of the mentally ill homeless that were recently released from prison. Slaying the Dragon is suitable for bringing an organization in the resignation zone into the aggression zone. There are three steps. Make the threat and problem keenly visible, create a highly structured change process to channel the emotion, and finally, appoint a leader who has significant personal commitment and has the capability to guide, monitor and control the process. Winning the Princess: As opposed to negative emotions this strategy relies on positive emotions such as excitement and enthusiasm, and is therefore best suited to move an organization from the comfort zone to the passion zone. This strategy capitalizes on peoples dreams of participating in a “heroic effort.” To be successful, change leaders must be successful in creating and communicating an “object of desire,” or desired outcome of the change. They must persuade employees and stakeholders that the change will result in this outcome. Bruch and Ghashal admit, “making people see, believe and commit to [a potential outcome that change will make possible] is intently more difficult than getting them to acknowledge a threat.” Successful use of this strategy requires defining, describing and substantiating the intangible – remaining abstract is tantamount to failure. Second, “leaders must embody their vision,” through credibility and symbolic actions. Finally, leaders must balance their positive enthusiasm for change with ongoing existing operations. Slaying the Dragon to Win the Princess: The ideal would be combining the immediacy of ‘slaying the dragon with the joy and pride of ‘winning the princess.’ Bruch and Ghushal caution, “…it is a major challenge to bend top-down, planed change that is focused on correcting major problem areas, [at the same time as encouraging] experimentation, creativity and playfulness. The only way to combine the two strategies is to create a path to the princess that automatically involves slaying a dragon.” Leaders must carefully create a strategy that envisions the possibility of surmounting a significant long term threat with heroic efforts. It appears to be a matter of semantics, and in many cases it likely is so. However the communication of those semantics via a credible and creative change leadership could very well be the key to the success of such a major undertaking. To succeed with this strategy, employees must understand that success not only means they’ve avoided, or corrected a huge problem, but also have created an agency that has made a significant impact in the lives of ex-offenders and the safety of the community. Leaders do not always have a choice of techniques. When faced with an imminent threat, slaying the dragon may absolutely be the only technique to use. The authors point out, “Princesses mean little when fighting for survival.” Likewise when a treat does not appear credible, even the most effective communicator can not rally an organization to ‘slay the dragon.’ Bruch and Ghushal state that in most cases the situation is not black and white and leaders have a choice. In addition, the authors warn of several energy change traps. Organizations that push an organization beyond its capabilities, and continue to push change can cause organizational burnout by not providing time for regeneration. During times of political turmoil and external threats, at the same time major internal changes and discord are taking place can cause organizations to channel energy into internal fights of self-interest with “little personal involvement in challenges which erodes people’s passion for business, their optimism and readiness to collaborate. State leaders of transition from prison to community organizational change initiatives should consider these traps as they push for change – are you allowing enough time for the organization to regenerate? Are there other external factors that should be focused on before introducing another TPCI initiative? Bruch and Ghushal encourage careful consideration when choosing a strategy to orient organizational energy towards change. The strategy must be weighed against the external and internal environment. Change leaders must examine their own behavior style – does their authoritative style clash with playful experimentation? Leaders should determine the current energy zone and organizational culture. Finally, leaders should consider company history. Some organizations may not be particularly good at operating in the passion zone as it encourages disorganization – therefore leaders should work to move change into the aggression zone. Organizational change is an important part of improving transition processes and procedures. By understanding the emotional energy or your organization, change initiative leaders can create organizational unity that makes change more meaningful and action oriented for employees and stakeholders. The original article: Bruch, Ghoshal, 'Unleashing Organizational Energy', MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2003 Vol.45, No.1 pg. 45

New Fact Sheets Offer Solutions for Ending Unfair Exclusions From Jobs, Housing and Basic Services

The Center for Law and Social Policy of Washington D.C. has produced a set of 8 two-page fact sheets summarizing their recent publication called Every Door Closed for Ex-Offender Parents Trying to Rebuild Their Lives and Families. These facts sheets succinctly present the challenges facing ex-offenders with respect to housing, public assistance, immigration, and financial aid.

Brooklyn Holds Prisoner Reentry Conference

Nearly 1,000 people attended a conference on reentry hosted by the Kings County District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes. The conference was a collaborative effort that showcased local, national, and international experts on prisoner reentry.Key speakers included Senator Ted Kennedy of MA, Eric Cadora of the Open Society Institute, and Dennis Maloney of the Community Justice Associates, the former Director of Community Corrections of Deschutes County, Oregon. In addition over 20 people participated in 4 panel discussions focused on how to reinvest justice spending, employment opportunities and barriers, health and housing opportunities and barriers, as well as civic re-engagement.

Using Nominal Group Exersizes to Set Goals and Priorities for Transitional from Prison Reform

A noted author on leadership, Robert J. McKaine attributes success to prioritization. “A major part of success … lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first. “ As true as his statement may be, setting goals and priorities across several multifaceted organizations is a significant logistical and intellectual challenge. Creating common goals and priorities will be major goal with a high priority in itself. While meetings are often noted as inefficient venues for broad participation and tangible outcomes, managed properly, they are an important tool in setting goals and priorities for Ex-Offender Transition Reform across state agencies. The TPCI model emphasizes integration of a significant cross section of state, local and community services. Bringing those parties together under any circumstances is a significant logistical challenge. Therefore, when such a group is assembled, the time must be effectively spent. A Nominal Group Technique is a method for rapidly gaining input from a group of individuals within an hour to an hour and a half. A key differentiator between nominal group exercises and agenda based meetings is that after completion, you will have a tangible product that goes beyond meeting minutes. You will have a listing of prioritized goals with stakeholders, barriers and action-steps. The Nominal Group Technique was used in Michigan to elicit input on goals from all 140 participants. A state steering committee received the prioritized goals and is currently analyzing the top priorities. Most nominal group exercises consist of a 12 to 15 individuals with a facilitator and record keeper. The first step includes a session in which the individuals write down goal ideas on a piece of paper. This is followed by sequential communication of those ideas without comment from others. Once all the idea goals of the group have been communicated, questions, clarifications and consolidation by the group takes place. With the completed list of goals in place, the facilitator asks the group to individually rank each goal as high, medium or low. By creating a weighted average, the goals can be ranked by order of highest to lowest priority. Focus on the top ten or fifteen priorities and encourage the group to list stakeholders, barriers, opportunities, and action-steps. Within 90 minutes the 140 Michigan TPCI launch meeting attendees provided prioritized goals to a state governor supported initiative. With the highest priority goals quickly established, Michigan is in a position to focus resources efficiently at the onset of effort.

State Finances Improve

The New York Times reports that state government finances are improving, with fewer budget shortfalls, increased revenue, and more controls on spending. A study by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that this fiscal year only 10 states reported budget shortfalls, totalling $2.8 billion, compared to 31 states with shortfalls totalling $17.5 billion last fiscal year. 34 states were on target to met their revenue estimates. A separate report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government found that state revenues grew 4.5 percent from July through September, 2003 after two years of declines. For full report

Applying the TPCI Model with fidelity.

NIC began the Transition from Prison to Community Initiative by asking 35 expert practitioners and academicians to define a model to guide the effort. These experts spent nearly 18 months developing the TPCI Model, which represents best transition practices based on both empirical evidence and the professional judgment of leaders in the field. These experts strongly agreed that effective transition reforms must involve corrections, parole, supervision, treatment and service providers, and community and neighborhood organizations and residents. They all have a vital stake in improved offender transition. Accordingly, the TPCI model is comprehensive—it covers all facets of the transition process, from offenders’ admission to prison to through their discharge from correctional supervision. The TPCI model provides benchmarks at key points in the process against which states should measure their performance, and which they should aspire to achieve. Officials in states that are not official TPCI participants may decide to use the Model to help shape and guide their separate transition reform efforts. If so, it is important that they apply the Model with fidelity. The Model is not a menu from which states can pick one reform from column A, one from column D, but skip reforms in columns B, C and F entirely. Rather, states should examine their practices at each step in the Model, and determine for each step the extent to which their practices approximate the Model. States should then develop a plan to strengthen each weak step so that it more closely reflects the Model. Each state’s plan for transition reform will be unique, because each will start at different points, with different strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. But over time, states should move via their unique paths towards a closer approximation of the entire TPCI Model. It would be unwise and very likely counterproductive for states to reform only some parts of their transition processes—that is, to implement only a part of the TPCI model. For example, if a state did not include all stakeholders in a partnership to analyze problems and plan improvements, an excluded agency might, at some point, withdraw support or resources and scuttle the reforms. If states increased services and surveillance for a subgroup of released offenders, but did not re-structure its revocation practices, increased contacts with those offenders might identify more minor infractions and trigger higher revocation and return rates—indeed, this was a key lesson from studies of early intensive parole supervision projects. If officials hoped to free up and redirect resources by reducing revocation rates, continuing business-as-usual in revocations could defeat their game plan. In its work with “official” participants in TPCI, NIC will emphasize adherence to the comprehensive TPCI Model. States that are not official participants, but that use the TPCI Model to guide their efforts, should follow a similar comprehensive approach.

USA Today: "Competitive job market locks out former offenders"

Just a few years ago, a booming economy and tight job market meant employers were increasingly willing to tap non-traditional labor pools, including ex-offenders. But today, with an abundance of candidates and a scarcity of jobs, employers are less willing to take a risk — and that means that workers with criminal records are facing uncertain employment futures. Full Story at USA Today

Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders

Offenders 25 and under within 5 years of release eligibility can be served through Department of Education funds. Most states are already receiving these funds, but it may be necessary to explore how they are being used and whether they are being used. Though the enabling legislation poses some barriers to their use, creativity may result in new opportunities for incarcerated young adults. Enabling Legislation Grant Recipients

Nominations for Top Re-Entry Issues for 2004

The November issue of the TPCI Review will arrive via e-mail promptly on Monday morning at 8AM eastern standard time. Be the first to nominate an issue to be part of the nationwide survey to determine the Top 10 Re-Entry Issues for 2004. Nominate an Issue Now!

Council of State Government's Reentry Policy Council

CSG just held their third and final meeting of the Reentry Policy Council. The Policy Council has been working extremely hard to develop a manual of recommended policies deemed necessary for the successful transition of offenders returning to communities. The Council consisted of representatives from all human services, including public health, housing, employment, and mental health and substance abuse agencies; public safety agencies, including police, corrections, probation, parole, parole boards, judges, prosecutors and defenders; community based agencies, victim advocates, exoffenders; and numerous legislators. CSG intends to have the manual published in the Spring. Stay tuned for more details on this meeting as well.

National Governor's Association Meeting Held

Last week teams from 7 states - Georgia, Rhode Island, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Idaho and Virginia - met in Atlanta to attend the NGA Prisoner Reentry Policy Academy. Team participants included policy advisors from the Governors' offices, directors of correction, probation and parole, parole board chairpersons, and commissioners of mental health, public health, and employment agencies. Over the two days state teams worked to develop strategies for implementing reforms in their states - these strategies included broad topics such as working with the media, as well as necessary changes in operational practices. Michigan's policy team highlighted their Re-Entry Initiative Kickoff Meeting and the management structure they have in place for necessary committee work. The Academy also included presentations by Jeremy Travis of the Urban Institute, Susan Davidson of the GAINS Center and officials from the DOJ, CDC, DHHS and US HUD. Stay tuned for more of the detail of this meeting.

UK Home Could Office Rapidly Expand Probation in the UK

Faced with budget cuts and a soaring prison populations, proposed reforms may significantly expand the probation system in the UK, with serious offenders receiving intensive rehabilitation programs. Full Story at the World Justice Information Network

Coming in the November TPCI Review

The November Issue of the TPCI Review will be delivered at the end of this week. The issue will headline with new proposed legislation that could significantly change the experiences of ex-offenders, and provide an overview of recent transitional reform meetings in Michigan. If you are not already, become a subscriber to the TPCI Review to Recieve the November Issue

Little Hoover Commission Report Recommends Adoption of New Re-Entry Planning Systems in California

Of the $1.5 billion spent on parole programs, California spends $900 million annually on parolees who violate the conditions of their release and are sent back to prison, the report said. It also found that while 42 percent of parolees nationally successfully complete parole, only 21 percent do so in California. The report strongly recommends that California adopt more efficient re-entry planning systems or continue to face a major threat to public safety. Full Story at WJIN

South Africa Launches Tough Enough Program

(NICRO Press Release) Tough Enough, a new offender reintegration program from South Africa's National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders is producing encouraging results just months after being introduced. The intensive 9 – 12 month program challenges offenders to take full responsibility for their actions and hold themselves accountable for their future and their families. The program, confined to a maximum of 15 participants per group, comprises six phases. The first is recruitment and assessment, when offenders volunteer to be on the program and are individually assessed by a NICRO worker. “The criterion for acceptance on the program is that they must really want to turn away from crime and make a positive contribution to society,” says NICRO's Fatima Abrahams. In Phase 2, group members set themselves individual challenges during a five-day workshop where “they look inside themselves to find solutions to their problems”. There they learn basic coping skills and participate in team building and trust building exercises, as well as group and individual counselling. Phase 3 comprises an eight-session program, during which the ex-offender starts implementing his decision to control his individual problem, whether it is drug abuse, stealing or aggressive behaviour. During this period, NICRO workers regularly meet with participants’ families, encouraging them to create an environment conducive to supporting the prisoner and his reintegration into the community. Phase 4 begins when the ex-offender is released. Each has a mentor, such as a police officer, magistrate, social worker or minister from the community in which he lives, to provide support after his release. “We teach prisoners to stand on their own feet, but the mentor is there to assist whenever additional support is needed,” says Abrahams. During Phases 5 and 6 the ex-offender accepts full responsibility for staying out of prison. NICRO meets regularly with mentors and participants to ensure that ex-offenders stick to their decision to refrain from committing crimes. Abrahams believes that basically people in prison are victims of circumstance. “We teach them to be victors instead of victims by changing within themselves.” After many groups of male exoffenders, Fatima Abrahams, is working closely with the first group of female prisoners on the program, says that only one of the group of 16 women released three months ago had been sent back for a few days. “This was not because she had committed a crime, but because she had broken parole, having been delayed in returning home to meet her parole officer,” says Abrahams, who received intensive training as a facilitator before the programme was launched. Several had opened new businesses, and one had become a flee-marketeer. One Western Cape, South Africa participant, Isobel Kemp, also known as Green Eyes, says: “They asked me what I believed were the answers. I knew the answers. No one had ever asked me what I thought before. When I found the answers inside myself, I could get help and move forward.”

State's budget crises prompt renewed interest in corrections reforms, including improved transition.

Fox Butterfield reported in the November 10, 2003 edition of the New York Times that in the last year 25 states have passed laws eliminating some mandatory sentences and increasing officials' discretion to release offenders from prison. Butterfield notes that, faced with continuing severe budget crises state legislators are talking less about getting "tough" on crime and are talking more about getting "smart on crime." As more legislatures adopt such policies, it will be increasingly important for states to implement reforms included within the TPCI model that strengthen the release and supervision processes. Full Story

Michigan Offender Re-Entry Initiative Launched

More than 140 professionals charged with improving offender re-entry attended the kickoff event for the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative. Videoconference remarks by Governor Jennifer Granholm opened the October 14 program which was held on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing. A National Institute of Corrections (NIC) grant will provide training, education and on-site technical assistance to help Michigan restructure its transition practices. Full Story

Learning Lessons From Homelessness

A Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation report from January 2003 tackles increasing access to mainstream public services e.g. SSA, TANF, WIC, Section 8, etc. for the homeless. The report highlights efforts being made around the country to address these issues generally, and many times in reference to the specific challenges of incarceration.

Applications due November 25, 2003 for SSA Cooperative Agreements to Remove Barriers to the Benefit Application Process

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is making cooperative agreement funding available to support projects that provide outreach, supportive services, and application assistance for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and all forms of Social Security benefits to individuals who are chronically homeless. The cooperative agreement projects are part of a broad Federal strategy to end chronic homelessness. The projects will be designed to identify and remove barriers to the benefit application process by outreach and assistance to homeless individuals, particularly those who are members of “under-served” populations. Homeless under-served individuals include, but are not limited to, those who have difficulty accessing services due to a disabling impairment, such as mental illness or other cognitive impairment; individuals with limited English proficiency; persons in jails and institutions, persons with multiple impairments and co-occurring disorders, and persons who have symptomatic HIV infections. Homeless under-served individuals may also include veterans and children with disabilities. Program Announcement

Department of Labor and Legal Action Center Sum Up Barriers to Employment for Offenders From Hard Time to Full Time, a report by the Legal Action Center released in June 2001 under the direction of DOL/ETA provides an easy to read summary of employment barriers facing ex-offenders. Do you have questions about how to help offenders overcome their criminal histories, or what policies protect ex-offenders from employment discrimination? If so, this report has the answers. Strategies to Help Move Ex-Offenders from Welfare to Work

Has your State Opted Out of the Public Assistance and Food Stamp Ban for Individuals with Drug Felony Convictions? Though more recent information may be available, a Legal Action Center and the Department of Labor report in 2001 identified states that had, at that time, opted out the ban, modified the ban, or imposed the ban on public assistance and food stamps for people with drug felongy convictions. Strategies to Help Move Ex-Offenders from Welfare to Work: Appendices

New Feature: Post Comments on Blogs We continue to receive very positive feedback on the re-entry blog, and see that readers are returning to see new posts on a daily basis. Given this success, we will continue to add new features. Today we have added a comments feature. By clicking on the new comments link at the end of every blog posting, you will be directed to a pop-up window that will allow you to post comments about the particular item you just read. In that window, you can also view other user’s comments. We are very excited about using the blog for bi-directional communication and hope you will take the opportunity to share your ideas and thoughts.

Can the Interagency Council on Homelessness Play a Role in Reentry? According to Phil Mangano, who attended the Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable on Housing, Homelessness, and Prisoner Reentry, approximately 40 states have a State interagency council on homelessness. These groups have a similar makeup of Agency Directors necessary to address reentry policy issues. States may want to consider engaging their Council to focus on exoffender issues if they are not already doing so. In addition a handful of states participated in the NGA Policy Academy on Homelessness last spring that also convened these same players. Check out the ICH website to see the work of the new Missouri Interagency Council of Homelessness. Interagency Council on Homelessness

DOJ Announces Change in VOI/TIS Regulations At last weeks Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable on Housing, Homelessness, and Prisoner Reentry, Cheri Nolan shared new regulations providing significantly greater flexibility in the expenditure of funds under VOI/TIS (Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth in Sentencing) program. Staff from Urban Institute forwarded to participants the new guidelines. This increased flexibility may allow other state resources to be directed toward to reentry needs. As you probably know, the primary purpose of the VOI/TIS program is to build or expand long-term medium to maximum-security correctional facilities. However, the funds can also be used for the following: 1. Community based correctional options that free up secure institutional bed space. These can either be early release options or direct sentencing options. Examples include but are not limited to: half-way houses; home detention programs; bracelet programs; day-reporting centers; work-release programs; community based treatment programs (substance abuse, mental health, sex offender; and family reunification programs (centers or facilities where parent and children are allowed to live on a trial basis under intensive supervision). 2. Parole Centers, these can either be pre-release or revocation centers but they keep this population out of the more secure, general population beds. 3. Reception and diagnostic centers, these must be long-term placements that free up secure beds. 4. Geriatric facilities, as the prison population ages, these would provide for more suitable correctional settings and free up secure beds. 5. Infirmaries, again these must be long-term housing options. 6. Leasing of Space, VOI/TIS funds can also be used for the short or long-term leasing of space from private or non-profit providers. These facilities can be either operated by the private firm or the state. 7. Juvenile Correctional facilities, these can be all of the projects listed above plus straight housing of non-violent juveniles. This purpose is capped at 10% unless the state declares exigent circumstances and then all of the grant funds can be used on juvenile programs. 8. Jail-based programs, this purpose is capped at 15% but allows for renovation and maintenance cost of local jail or detention facilities, which cannot be funded elsewhere. 9. Drug testing, treatment and interventions of the money received since FY 1999, 10% percent may be used for this purpose. Projects funded under this purpose can include but are not limited to: treatment programs and/or treatment staff; testing equipment and supplies; K-9 units or other detection programs; staff overtime for contraband searches, prevention activities, treatment, etc; and aftercare services such as community-based treatment, housing, job placement, educational services, etc...

NPRs American RadioWorks Looks at Life After Prison John Biewen of American RadioWorks explores how one predominantly black neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina tries to cope with a high incarceration rate and with the steady flow of returning ex-inmates. NPR : Ex-Inmates Come Home: "American RadioWorks Looks at Life After Prison"

High Rates of HIV in Massachusetts Prisons Threaten Disadvantaged Communities Where Ex-offenders Settle According to a study by the Massachusetts Public Health Association, prisons in that state had a rate of HIV 10 times that of the general population. More alarming is that women inmates are almost twice as likely to test positive than men. The study also confirmed that hepatitis C was 15 times more prevalent in state prisons, and Tuberculosis was nearly 17 times more prevalent. Nearly 97% of inmates in Massachusetts prisons return to the community. MPHA suggests that while medical re-entry planning is improving in the state, the level of chronic illness and cutbacks in Medicaid threaten the disadvantaged communities where ex-offenders settle.

Texas Representative Ray Allen Speaks to the National Conference of State Legislatures on PIE According to Texas Representative Ray Allen, in a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Post Release Employment is one of the strongest indicators that an offender will not commit new crimes and return to prison. Thirty-six states have working Prison Industry Enhancement Programs in place. The program was designated under federal law in 1979. PIE allows offenders to work for private sector employers. "When private sector employers invest in their workers and the workers begin to invest their lives in gainful employment and loyalty to their employers, a kind of transformation takes place. Suddenly we are not talking about convicts anymore, we are talking about people who are about to build successful lives. That is what re-entry is all about," Representative Allen said.

South African Corrections Minister Speaks to Re-Integration of Prisoners Nearly 60% of South Africa's inmate population is under the age of 30. For those of you following the blog, you will remember a post about a week ago with an article from WJIN stating that re-integration was a shared responsibility among multiple government agencies. Read his entire speech.

Conference Notice: Getting Back to Work: Employment Strategies for Ex-offenders Public Private Ventures is hosting two 2-day workshops on employment strategies for ex-offenders -one in San Francisco and the other in New Orleans. Registration is still open. Faculty for the programs include representatives from New York City's Fortune Society, Center for Employment Opportunities and the Legal Action Center. For more information see the link below. P/PV : Working Ventures

Offenders as Fathers: A Key to Motivation As payment of child support and family reunification continue to be issues high on the radar screen for successful reintegration innovative solutions are necessary. Departments of corrections around the country have made attempts to address these issues through programming and collaboration with local universities and community agencies. For example, collaborative efforts between the Oregon DOC and the Oregon Social Learning Center have been successful in using fatherhood and parenting as a key factor in motivating offenders while incarcerated. Their efforts have focused on teaching offenders parenting skills, role modeling in a classroom setting, and giving the offenders opportunities to practice what they have learned over the phone and during visits. For more information on this program go to the Oregon DOC website at the link below. For More Information Click Here For additional information and research on working with fathers see the Public Private Ventures website. P/PV : Working Ventures

Re-Entry Blog Most Popular Item on TPCI Review Nearly 35% of all readers of the inaugural issue of the TPCI Review visited the Re-Entry Blog, making it the most popular item on the review. We are very excited about this new medium of communication. The positive response and feedback encourages us to make more use of this tool and add some additional functionality. Bookmark, and continue to visit the blog and we will keep you posted through the TPCI Review, and blog posts when new functionality is added. Thanks for your positive response!

SAMHSA Technical Assistance Topics Relevant for Criminal Justice Populations. Current posts on the SAMHSA TA website include presentations and audio conference calls on motivational interviewing, cultural competence, applications for SSI/SSDI benefits, interventions for persons with co-occurring disorders and more. These discussions and topics are focused on the homeless population, but are clearly relevant for ex-offenders. For instance, motivational interviewing has clear implications for institutional programming and community supervision. PATH - Technical Assistance

HUD Web Broadcast on Housing for Ex-Offenders HUD is clearly paying more attention to the special needs of released offenders. In addition to this 2 hour broadcast, HUD has commissioned a study on the impact of correctional release practices on homelessness. The study will include a qualitative description of policies and practices in four states, as well as a quantitative analysis of corrections and homeless data gathered through Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) databases. Training - HUD

Abt Associates and the National Institute of Corrections Launch First Issue of the TPCI Review Re-Entry Blog is Most Popular Link At 1pm today, the inaugural issue of the TPCI Review was delivered by e-mail to the leading corrections, social scientists, and program providers around the nation interested in re-entry and transition best practices. Based on feedback only an hour after delivery, the TPCI Review will likely grow to become a major resource for the re-entry policy and practice community. The Re-Entry Blog quickly became the most popular link in the TPCI Review e-mail. We are particularly excited about this medium of communication as it provides an up to the minute venue of communication for readers of the TPCI Review.

RAND Research Brief on Public Health and Re-Entry According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics almost 25% of US state prisoners to be released by the end of 1999 were alcohol dependant, 14% mentally ill, and 12 percent homeless at the time of arrest. RAND explores these issues in more detail in its research brief published this May. RAND: Prisoner Reentry: What Are the Public Health Challenges?

Using a Nominal Group Exercise to Efficiently Set Priorities for Transition from Prison Across Multiple State Agencies One of the major goals of the Transition from Prison to Community Initiative is to foster collaboration among the various agencies that may provide services to the recently released ex-offender. In addressing re-entry issues the Department of Corrections must team with Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, Public Health Agencies and a variety of other agencies. Once these relationships are developed, how do you set priorities with so many different competing visions, goals, understandings, and expectations? At a recent meeting in Michigan, nearly 140 individuals from a variety of state agencies participated in a nominal group exercise at thier TPCI kick off meeting Broken into groups of up to 12, attendees focused on one area of transition. A nominal group technique is a structured form of brainstorming with a facilitator/moderator and record keeper. Nominal group exercises often begin with an anonymous or feedback free brainstorming session. Each group member may express their priorities/ideas without any comment from other members. These priorities are recorded by the record keeper. This idea generation phase is followed by a phase in which comments are made to clarify, combine, and augment the recorded list. Once the group feels satisfied that it understands each stated priority, the moderator calls for a vote. For each priority, group members may give a vote for high, medium or low. In Michigan, the votes created a priority score using a weighted average technique. Those priorities with the top group scores were fleshed out in more detail and submitted to the larger group in a report by the facilitator. Insufficient time will always be a problem. Nominal Group Facilitators should be sure to watch the clock closely spending the majority of time at the end of the session fleshing out the highest priority ideas. Experience in Michigan also suggests that the facilitator may want to wrap up the first step (priority idea generation) slightly early in order to consolidate any redundancies.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Reports on challenges of re-entry in Maine Despite one of the lowest incarceration rates in the nation, nearly 700 exoffenders complete thier sentence and return to the community each year. According to federal statistics half will be imprisoned again within 36 months. Even with in-prison job training, budget cuts and the worst economy in a half decade makes the transition even more challenging. Regional Review: Doing Well by Doing Time?

Pasco County Florida Rolls Out New GPS System The Pasco County Sheriff's Office kicked off its global positioning system monitoring program. Nine prisoners were selected for release Friday after judicial approval, spokesman Kevin Doll said. Full Story from The Tampa Tribune

South African Correction Services Administrator Says Reintegration of Prisoners Shared Responsibility Minister Ben Skosana addressed an Offender Reintegration Symposium in Langebaan on the West Coast of South Africa on October 2nd. 'Our desire to ensure the successful reintegration of offenders into society is driven by our desire to bring about a safe and secure South Africa,' he said. Read the full story at WJIN

PBS to Air Re-Entry Documentaries Governor Rod Blagojevich, of Illinois, has granted Academy Award® nominated and national Emmy award-winning filmmaker Tod Lending (Ethno Pictures) unprecedented access to a female juvenile detention center (prison) in Illinois in order to tell the story of Aimee Myers, and her family, through her first year of incarceration and a year after her release. This documenatry is part of a series chronicalling the real challenges of incarcerated individuals as they re-enter the community and begin to rebuild thier lives. As airdates approach we will keep you posted.

Abt Associates Uses New Technology to Expand Reentry Knowledge In the coming days, Abt Associates and the National Institute of Corrections will begin distribution of an e-mail newsletter about the Transition from Prison to Community Initiative. The TPCI Review, as it will be named, will be published every month. Subscription is open to any subscriber interested in the progress of TPCI participating states, innovative transitional activities, breaking news, resources and biographies of thought leaders in the field. In addition to the newsletter, Abt Associates will be pulling together interesting information and resources in a common location on the web for anyone interested in transitional and offender re-entry initiatives. If you would like to sign up for the mailing list while we make the final touches, please feel free to set up your e-mail address at the left. There will be substantial changes upcoming in the look of the e-mail system, so please pardon any awkwardness.

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Thank you for your interest in implementing TPCI within your jurisdication. Someone will contact you shortly to discuss how we may help you implement TPCI. Return to the Re-Entry Blog